Evaluating a Field-Portable Neutron Resonance Capture Analysis System for Safeguards
Applications

Technological strides in the thorium fuel cycle suggest its possible commercialization for nuclear power use within the next ten years. While thorium shares many aspects with the uranium and plutonium fuel cycles, it introduces the requirement for the nondestructive assay (NDA) of 232Th and 238U in varied chemical and physical arrangements. We describe the experimental evaluation of a portable Neutron Resonance Capture Analysis (NRCA) system, sensitive to materials with resonances occurring in the epithermal (1-100 eV) range. NRCA can determine isotopic sensitivity through neutron time-of-flight correlation with unique isotopic resonances, using moderated neutrons from a compact deuterium-tritium neutron generator. The technique, typically performed at beam lines with lengths in excess of 10 meters, is evaluated in a novel miniaturized configuration. This work seeks to determine the feasibility of NRCA for practical in-field isotopic characterization; we will present results from simulation and from experiments on single-element targets. NRCA, when used in concert with a portable Neutron Resonance Transmission Analysis system currently in development has the potential to rapidly and non-destructively quantify and characterize isotopes of interest in support of safeguards material accountancy.